CH 77

“Ruins?”

Ruins are structures created during the ancient magician civilization, that ended up getting swallowed by the Demon Forest.

Earlier, Reno had found one of them in the shallower regions of the forest.

However, we had already finished exploring it, so she must have meant another one.

“Were you looking for the ruins marked on the map, by any chance?”

“*Nod*”

The location of another building was shown on the map found in the previous ruins.

It seems that the previous ruins were a hiding place for the followers of the witch cult, so the buildings shown on that map are also probably related to the witch cult.

Keeping in mind how the previous building had survived, it could be assumed that others had as well.

“That reminds me, the location shown on the map lay roughly where Reno was headed.”

The map was currently stored inside my [Storage].

Now that she said it, I feel that Reno was indeed headed in that direction.

Reno remembered it well even though she only should have seen it briefly, right after getting the map.

While I would get confused about which direction to take, even while holding the map in my hand.

“Did you want to find the ruins again?”

Kili kindly asks Reno.

“…I only, wanted to find the ruins quickly.”

“It’s nothing to get so flustered about.”

“If we found the ruins, we might even be able to fix Lain nii-chan’s curse! I can’t be helpful with my magic, so I wanted to be of as much use as I could during exploration…”

“Reno…”

Reno’s words fade away.

However, her feelings were clearly conveyed.

She was thinking and taking action in her own way.

I got up from my chair and stood beside her.

She distances her face, expecting me to get angry.

“Reno. Thank you. You did this out of concern for me.”

As I stroked her head, Reno’s stiffness gradually disappeared.

Despite that, she seems to be more worried about me than I had previously thought.

The thought of the ruins didn’t even enter my mind.

Sui’s grimoire was also fine for the time being, so I believed it would be okay not to rush things.

“Then how about exploring some places tomorrow, where we are likely to find those ruins?”

“Really!!? Lain nii-chan!”

“It’s not that far from where we explored today, anyways.”

Right now within the area we were exploring, there’s a place where one of the ruins listed on the map were likely to be.

If Reno was that anxious about it, then it might be better to look for them first.

For all we know, there may be nothing there.

However, there’s no meaning in simply training where we currently are.

We might as well go ruin-searching while doing that.

The only one that’s burdened by it is Reno, who has to look for the ruins, but it’s better to search a targeted area rather than finding them while exploring different areas.

It would take a lot of time before we found them too.

“Is everyone fine with that?”

“I think it’s fine.”

Aria immediately agreed.

None of the others seemed to have any objections either.

“Then let’s explore the area likely to have the ruins tomorrow.”

“Eh? What about the rest of today?”

“No further exploration today. This is so that Reno learns not to take selfish actions anymore.”

“Eeh!?”

“Look, even though I lectured her so much, she doesn’t seem to be listening.”

I had given her an earful so far, but since it didn’t seem to have much effect, there would have to be some punishment.

I realize she had given this some thought before going through with it, but you never know when she might get grievously injured because of it.

“Next time, be sure to discuss what you want to do beforehand. If not with me, then with Aria, or even Kili.”

“…Yes.”

Reno acts dejected.

Uu.

I’m weak when she reacts like that.

However I couldn’t spoil her here.

That wouldn’t serve to benefit her in any way.

“We-, well, since we’re exploring the area around the ruins, is there anything else you guys noticed?”

“…Now that you mention it, the materials we collected today are somewhat different as compared before.”

“Yeah, they are different.”

Kili asks in order to change the atmosphere.

Just like she said, the materials we now get in the forest change due to different concentrations of magic.

Different areas of the forest change to make the area easier to live in for its inhabitants.

The area before, and the one before that both had greywolves, so our harvest didn’t change much, but since the current area has blackwolves instead, we get different materials in return.

“In the Demon Forest, you often get materials with the same attributes as the monsters that inhabit that area.”

“Hee-, so that’s how it is.”

Conversely, the monsters have the same attribute as the materials found in that area, since having a resistance to that material necessitates it.

Well, since greywolves didn’t have any attributes to begin with, those talks were unnecessary before, but from now on, they will be necessary.

“For example, what sort of response is needed?”

“Let’s see. The one that has to be the most careful would be Sui.”

“Me?”

“While attacking, if you use the same attribute attack as that possessed by your opponent, you will hardly cause any damage to them. Worst case, you might even heal them.”

The most annoying part of an elemental monster was this.

It’s ideal to attack using the opposite attribute, but if that’s not possible, then attacking with any other attribute is also fine.

“So, which attribute do blackwolves possess?

“…What do you think, Kili?”

“Eh? Me?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re the material expert here, after all. I want Kili to continue investigating what attributes the materials are from now on.”

Kili makes an uneasy expression after hearing that.

“Well, even if you make a mistake, I’ll correct it, so it’s okay for you to slowly get used to it.”

“Got it.”

“So, what do you think?”

Kili ponders while placing her hand on her chin.

“…I think, it’s fire attribute.”

She then replies to me, hesitatingly.